Proxy
by NightOfSilverRain
Summary: Something is wrong with Dib.. [[Slender man X Invader Zim Crossover]] MILD BLOOD WARNING
1. The Sickness

**READ FIRST:**  
**I've had a bit of writers block for a while so sorry If it isn't the best. Also, the typing program does NOT have a spell check of any kind so please ignore any misspelled words. Thank you**..  
_

Dib trudged his feet across the sidwalk, not really caring about the burning rain against his face. It was just rain, anyway. He really didn't mind the rain. He kind of enjoyed it. It reflected his personality in a way.. Especally today. He always hated Mondays.

Dib tightened the strap on his bookbag and yanked it over his shoulder again. As the rain came down harder, his hair began to droop down infront of his nose. Annoyed, he blew it to the side, however, it just continued to drop back down and stick to his forehead. He stopped a moment to fix his hair. He stopped walking. His eye's widened slightly... He could have sworn he had heard an extra footstep. He wipped his head over his shoulder, but no one was there. He stared down the sidewalk, into the dark grey sky behind him. After moments of silence, he shrugged and continued to walk, again ignoring the rain pelting him from above..

He walked up the steps and under the shelter of the school building. He stopped again, hearing a set of echoed steps following him again. He turned quickly, paranoid a bit now. Yet, no one stood there. He rolled his eyes, figuring it might be a prank of some sort.

"Ha ha," he spoke in a flat, monotone voice. "Very funny, now knock it off.." ..Figuring however was following knew he wasn't falling for it had moved on, he turned around again and went inside.

Boots sqeaking as he did so, he plopped down in his desk, sqeezing the remaining moisture from his jacket out. He yawned, laying his elbow on the desk and resting his head on his hand. All of the other students in the room were dry, as they had took the bus. Just another thing for them to point out to be different about him...

xXx

School was slow to pass by. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary, really. Only one thing, though. He seemed to have a bit of a fever. Just a tad. It wouldn't ever get higher than 99 or 100. He ignored it though. A little fever once in a while was normal, right?

The rain at yet to lighten up, as he'd expected. But, again, he didn't care. What kept bugging him was that he couldn't help the feeling someone... or something... was watching him. You know that feeling, right? He slowly brought himself to a stop. Well... he didn't hear the third step, that was good. Without turning around, he spoke.

"Who are you and why do you keep following me?" he asked, unamused, to whomever was standing behind him. He sighed. All those stupid kids found everything funny.. He tried to hide any nervousness he felt. He continued to walk, keeping him mind on getting home which, strangly, he almost forgot..

xXx

Dib wiped his boots on the rug outside of the door and went inside.. Gaz, as always, was first to get home. She sat, raincoat still on, on the sofa, feet propped on the coffee table in front of her. The rainboots she wore were a dark purple with bright yellow stars on them. When she heard the door creek shut, she turned her head.

One eye opened, she spoke, somewhat curious.

"Get in another fight or something?" she asked, gestering to his face. He looked confused a moment.

"What?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she pointed to the mirror on the wall behind her. Dib walked over to in curiously. As he glanced into it, a bloody nose glanced back. He touched the spot above his lip to keep the moister from dripping and making a mess. Sighing, he went to to bathroom to clean up.

He leaned forward, over the sink, and took his hand away, letting the crimson liquid drip into the sink. He grabbed a hand towel, wipped his hands, and pressed it gently againts his nose.. He felt the top of his head again. God, It was burning to the touch. Sticking a peice on paper towel up his nose to stop the bleeding, he quickly went to thermametor.

_102_.. God. It was getting worse. What was going on? He shrugged. Must just be a cold. I mean, It's not like he could just walk to school in the rain and go all day with wet cloths and not expect even a chance at getting sick. Nothing unussual.. Weird. That's what he's been telling himself all day.

xXx

That night, sleep didn't come easy. Shadows danced on the walls, mimicking the shapes of goblins and ghosts. Tree branches tapped on the windows and the thunder roared outside, making the sounds of monsters growling and scratching at his door. As paranoid as he was, he finaly found the break of sleep, However, it wasn't as peaceful as it sounded. Nightmares flooded through his brain like a glass of water being poured into a sink.

_He was in a forrest alone, holding nothing but a flashlight. As he shined it in front of him, he began to walk forward slowly. It was silent other than the crickets chirping and sound of dirt and twigs crunching underneath his feet. He swallowed nervously as he shined the light through the tree's, hoping to God he wouldn't find another face staring back._

_He thought he saw a glimpse of white in the corner of his eye. He shined the flashlight back to it. There was a note on the tree._

HeLP Me_, It read. He didn't hesitate ripping the note off and shoving in in his pocket._

_As he continued the walk, his foot hit something soft. It made a slight _squisssh~ _sound. He swallowed hard as he looked down. God, it looked like _heart! _But wait.. He stopped to look around. There were organs scattered _everywhere! _Some were even bitten off of. _

_He gagged, slouched over the ground, and threw up. It was terrible.. Before he thought it could get worse, he felt cold hands on his shoulders... Then-_

Dib's eye's shot open with a gasp, sheets drenched in a cold sweat. He gasped at the air, panting in an atempt to catch his breath. He sighed, whipping a bead of sweat off of his forehead. Ok, he told himself, just calm down. It was just a nightmare. Those are normal ri- Wait, no! That's what he'd been telling himself almost all week! Something was wrong. All of these things happening all at once _wasn't_ normal. He couldn't keep telling himself that.. He looked at the clock.

_3:47_

Great. There was no way he could go back to sleep. He had _way_ to much on his mind to ven try. School way the same way. Well, since his father was barly home anyway, I _could _ditch if he wanted. He knew it would ruin his perfect attendence record but... he knew he couldn't focus with everything happening at once like this. He knew what he would do. He would just put together a doctors note saying he was sick. It wouldn't _entirely_ be a lie. He'd _felt_ sick anyway.. Hmm.. What was his doctors name again? Eh, he'd think of it later. He'd just forward the signiture. At least it would be excused... Then again, did it matter?


	2. Stalked

Morning came quicker than he thought it would. He slammed his hand on the alarm clock that blarred in his ear next to him.

_6:15_

He sighed and threw his feet over the side of his bed. He was dressed in his normal frowny-faced shirt and dark blue boxers. He yawned, thinking about getting dressed. He shrugged and decided not to. It was his day off, he smiled. Time to take it easy..

His fever had wen't down a bit, which was good. He sighed and slid of of his bed and onto the floor. The sun had yet to rise. He peaked his head out of the door and down the hall. He saw but one light, which came from Gaz's room. She must have been getting ready for school. Hmm... Weird. She usually got up a little latter than him.

He yawned, trudging his feet down the stairs slowly. He felt more groggy than normal..

He sighed and slowly sat down on the couch, propping his feet on the table in front of him. After all of this time, he _needed_ a day off. Plus, he needed time to figure out what was going on. He exhaled slowly, and gently laid his head on the back of the couch... and close his eyes again..

_. . He felt cold hands on his shoulders. His eye's widened. He struggled to break free from the creatures grip. He ran as fast as he could to get away from whatever was following him. All he could think about was survival. What the hell was that thing? It fingers stretched from his shoulders to his stomach. As he ran, his foot hit one of the disembodied organs.. and he slipped. He landed hard on his back. His eye's widened as he saw a large shadow swoop over him and-_

"DIB!" Gaz shouted a second time. Dib's eye's bolted open. "We're late for school, dumb-ass.." she murmered. DIb sighed. "I'm not going to school today."

Gaz shrugged. "Whatever.." she muttered, walking towrds the door. Dib rolled his eyes. He looked at the clock.

_7:57_

He hadn't gotten much sleep but he needed the small portion that he'd gotten ... even if it did included that disturbing nightmare he'd continued to dream over and over again.. He almost wanted to finish the dream to actually see what was followling him.

He then heard a knock at the door. He sighed. Probably another award winning scientists wanting to talk to his father. Too bad his father hadn't been home for days now. He hadn't even called. He opened the door.

"Zim?" he said. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"You weren't at school, Dib-worm."

He gave a confused look and looked at the clock again. "It's only eight.. How do you know I wasn't just late?" he asked. "And you. You're not at school either.."

Zim was silent a moment. He hadn't thought of that. "I had other important things to do than to attend school today, Dib-thing."

"Then why were you there in ther first place?"

Hmm.. He really hadn't thought this through, had he? "Only to see if _you_ were up to anything."

Dib shook his head. "Just to let you know, Zim, I may have been born at night but it wasn't last night.." he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"I know that, Dib-worm. I just saw you yesterday.." he said, thinking _he_ was the stupid one.

Dib hit his forhead and shook his head. "Dumb-ass.." he murmered to himself.

Dib stopped. He felt extremely cold. He tried to speak but nothing came out. What was happening? He glanced over Zim's shoulder a moment, gazing out of the door. He didn't know why he'd done it but... His eye's widened. Just then, he saw a man. He was very tall. He was dressed in a black suit and tie with arms that reached to the ground. he lacked but one thing.. a face. Even if his face wasn't visible, Dib knew if he had one, it would be starring directly at him.

That was him. The thing he saw in his dreams.

He was frozen, unable to look away. Zim looked confused. He waved a hand in front of his face, however, it didn't faze him. He looked frustrated.

"Hello?" he spoke, unsure sounding, waving another hand infrount of his face. After receiving no responce, he turned to see what he was starring at. He saw nothing there. He turned back to him. "What are you looking at?"

Dib, for some reason, suddenly snapped back into reality, blinking. He looked to Zim, seeing frustration in his face. He quickly looked back but saw nothing there.. He looked back to Zim. "Y-You didn't see that?"

Zim gave him a weird look. "See what?"

Dib paused before speaking again. He was talking to the wrong person about this. He shook his head and slightly slammed the door, leaving Zim on his door step with more questions than answers.

Dib sighed, pressing his back againsts the door and sliding to the floor. He buried his face in his hands and tried to get his breathing back under control..

**Sorry this chapter was so short.. I figured this was a good stopping point before continuing. I had a lot more I wanted to include but didn't.. Don't worry. I'll be posting Ch. 3 really soon. I'm also working on 'Behind closed eyes' so don't worry about it..**


	3. Slender-What?

Dib began to notice a connection between all of the dreams. All of which they contained the man he'd seen outside earlier. Well, it must have been anyway. It coudn't have been anything else.

He breathed out slowly and rose to his feet. He shook his head. He wanted desperatly to know what was going on. Was he sick or something? He knew it wasn't just a coincedence that all of this was happening.

He glance over at his laptop on the sofa. Curious and Anxious to find out what this thing is, he sat down. He sighed, sitting his laptop on his lap and opened it. He quickly typed his password and opened a window. He thought a moment.

"Tall man," he began, speaking outload as he typed. ",no face." He tapped enter.

Several results apeared. He clicked the first.

It lead to a wiki page. _The Slender Man_ Was the title of the page. He began to read.

_T__he Slender Man is a creature (or being) with various nebulously defined characteristics and Man generally appears (in modern times) as a tall man in a black or grey suit, red or black tie, and white shirt, with no eyes, mouth, or clearly defined facial features._

He stopped reading. That description. That was what he saw! It clearly described it. He clicked back and went to images.

He typed. "Slenderman"

He began to shake once he clicked search and the results began to apear. That was him. He shook his head. Well, he thought. At least he knew now what this thing was. Now he could find out more about it. He clicked forward and continued to read..

_Slenderman typically is depicted in imagery and literature as between 6 and 15 feet tall, depending on the situation, and in video as around 6-7 feet tall. Because of its inexact nature, and differences between series, no one has yet determined what it is. _

He skipped 'Basic Description' down to 'Abilities.'

_Slender Man's original abilities included invisibility to select people, adult humans, or anyone without use of a camera, the ability to change height and body shape, the ability to shape its arms into tentacles, and the ability to sprout tentacle-like appendages from its back and shoulders to be used as additional arms or legs (or simply to instil fear into its prey). Many stories seem to indicate that it can control a person's mind. Slender Man also had connections to children, with many of the original stories revolving around disappearing children or featured Slender Man being sighted in photos with children._

He sighed, leaning his head back on the sofa. He still hasn't been able to find out what any of this means. He glanced back down. What _did_ this mean..? Just then something caught his eye. He read:

_Slenderman will find interest in a victim for reasons unknown _

_It would then contact the victim, if it is a child, presenting itself as friendly _

_The adults he stalks have a common trait: they have all been through a terrible tragedy in their life, even if the tragedy was made by Slenderman directly_

_If an adult, it would stalk the victim for long amounts of time causing what is known as "Slender sickness" causing massive paranoia, nose bleeds, nightmares, hallucinations appearing to only the sick person, and many other dangerous symptoms._

_Eventually, it would abduct the victim into nearby forest, where they would be killed. _

_In 'messy' cases, it may remove evidence of its existence by causing fire of their home, place of work, or school _

God.. This whole situation is the oposite of "friendly".. He skipped down. Hmm.. A Tragedy? Wait. He remembered... His mothers death. Of coarse. That had to have been. But why would that have caused all this? He thought back to that night.

xXx

_Dib was six at the time. He remebered, he was sleeping when he heard the sound of a door being broken down. His eyes jared open. He heard the thudding sound of heavy boots entering an unwelcoming home. He didn't have be lectured to know what was going on. Someone was in the house. He jumped out of bed, slipped on his rope, and reached under his bed, grabbing a small metal bat. He peaked around the corner. Gaz had heard the noise too, for she was peaking out to. Dib put on a brave face._

_"Stay here." he said, gripping his bat tight. In his mind, he was going to be the hero. He was determind to. He turned to the stairs and walked towards them._

_He stopped at the edge of the stairs when he heard a loud scream. It was his mother._

_"Shut up, b*tch!" one of the men shouted as he cocked back the egde on his glock and knocking her over her head, forcing her to the floor. His eyes widened. The brave feeling he had felt before was gone in an instant. It was replaced with shock. And fear. He slowly curled up behind the edge of the stairs, shaking._

_His mom continued to fight. When she continued to disobey the mans orders, he pulled the trigger, shooting her in the shoulder. Dib covered his mouth to keep himself from shouting. She let out a blood curtling scream, clutching her wound. The man shot again, this time in the stomache. She bagan to sob, loudly, still screaming. _

_Dib's eye's began to water, tears running down his cheeks. He couldn't seem to look away from the brutal sight. Once the man aimed for her head and pulled the trigger, he broke down. He began to sob, clutching he mouth tight, avoiding making a sound. He dropped his bat, making a loud claaank! His eyes widened, looking down at the man, who now had eyes locked on him._

_Dib didn't hesitate to run. He quick,y rose to his feet and ran to his sister. The man, with an angry grunt, darted up the stairs after him._

_Dib grabbed him sisters arm, practicly dragging her into her bedroom. He shoved her into the closet. He quickly stepped in after her and gently closed the door. Gaz opened her mouth to protest but his hand clamped over it. He backed the two of them into the corner, keeping very quiet. She kept quiet, clearing understanding now, what was happening._

_Through the cracks of the closet door, thay saw him. He was gripping his glock tight._

xXx

Dib stopped there. Remembering was too painful. He shook his head. Why would that have caused this? And if so, why did it take seven years for this 'Slenderman' guy to noticed? He needed to dig deeper...


	4. Blood on the wall

Dib stopped typing when he heard the door open. Gaz closed the door gently and tossed her bag onto the floor. She looked exausted. Damn, had he been on his laptop for seven hours? He looked at the clock.

_3:24_

Yep. He rubbed his eyes, resting them from the bright light of the screen. Gaz eyed him a second. He haded moved an inch since she'd left. "What have you been doing on there for this long?"

Dib decided not to tell anyone about this. He knew it would just be something else for someone to tease him for. "Studying."

She didn't look like she was buying that. "Studying for what?"

He though for a moment. "A... Science project."

Gaz stared for a moment. She then just rolled her eyes and turned to the kitchen. Dib sighed. He knew she wasn't buying that. He sighed, shutting his laptop. He stood streaching. He began to walk towards the kitchen as well but stopped. He looked closely at one of his familiy photo's.

In the background he saw him. He stood tall behind him. His eyes widened. "Gaz!"

She poked her head around the corner. "What..?!" she said, annoyed.

"L-Look at this!" he said pointing at the photo. She rose an eyebrow, walking over to the picture. She examined it for a moment. "What is it?"

Dib pointed again. "There!" he said, pointing. Gaz shook her head. "There's nothing there".

Dib looked at his sister in disbelief. "What are you talking about? It right-..." he stopped. When he looked back at the photo, he was gone. "But.. he was right..."

Gaz growled, annoyed. "Ok, whatever." She turned back to the kitchen. "If you have anymore pictures of _trees, _just let me know._" _she said in a mocking voice, as she went back into the kitchen.

Dib shook his head. Was he just imagining all of this? He remebered that 'not everyone could see him'. But it just didn't seem like something that could actually happen.

Suddenly, he felt very sick at his stomach to the point of vomiting. He also, suddenly, felt very weak. He felt like passing out. But the sickness came first.

He ran quickly to the bathroom, leaned over the toilet, gripping the seat tight, and threw up. He winced at the tugging feeling in his stomach. He coughed, hoping that was the end of it.. until the coughing fit never stopped. He continued to cough, gribbing his stomach at the sharp pain he felt each time.

Soon after, the coughing had ceised. He sighed. He decided to turn it early.

xXx

It was later that night. Gaz yawned as she walked up the stairs. She turned the corner to her room but suddenly stopped. She saw Dib standing outside his room at the other end of the dark hallway. He was standing in front of his door, his face less than an inch from touching it. He never moved.

Gaz eyed him carefully. "Dib? What are you doing?". She didn't recieve an answer from him. She aproched him carfully. She stopped a few feet before. She carfully placed a hand infront of his face. His eyes. They we'rent his eyes. He was zoned out, seeming to be staring passed the door. She thought, he coud be sleepwalking. He _did_ have spells of that as a child.

She sighed. Durring those situations, she was told never to wake him up. Just put him to bed.

She gently grabbed his shoulders and guided him. She moved him over to open the door. As she opened his door she gently guided him inside. She was careful not to wake him.

Once they were close enough to the bed, She gently sat him down and laid his head on his pillow. His eyes were still open, however. As she stared down, into his eyes, another person stared back. He wasn't himself. it was almot as if it was another person inside there. There just wasn't a word for it.

She sighed, turning around towards the door. She couldn't help but feel a little uneasy knot in her stomach. Like she was almost scared of him.

Once she turned away, she stopped dead in her tracks.

The wall infront of her was covered in markings. They were circles with 'X's drawn through them, occasionally a 'V'. "The Operator" was scribbled underneath it it red. Red dripped from the walls as if it had been written in blood.

Gaz looked back to Dib in his bed. She quickly walked to the bed and grabed his arm. His pale blue sleeves were stained with blood. She froze a moment before rolling up his sleeve. There were several slashes on his wrist.

"My God, Dib.." she spoke, mostly to herself.

She sat his arm back onto his bed and left te room. She hurrided to the bathroom, grabbing a washcloth and wetting it.

When she returned to Dib's room, Dib was no longer lying in bed where she had left him.

He stood next to the wall he'd written on, swaying on his feet, uneasily. He gribbed a razor blade tight in his hand, scrapping his opposite wrist with it. His speed picked up over the short time she stood in the doorway.

Gaz quickly moved over to him, grabbing his arm. Dib stiffened at her touch. Gaz stopped as DIb slowly turned his head in her direction. His eyes were no longer the zoned out, stanger-felt eyes they originally were. When she looked at him, she saw Dib again.

Dib stood there, frozen. He seemed to be processing his surroundings. He didn't remember how he got there or what he was doing. He looked down to his hands. His eyes widened sligtly as he spotted the razor and the significantly large amount of blood on him. He immediatly dropped the razor to the floor.

His hands were shaking. "W-What's... W-Why... Was I.."

Gaz placed a hand on his shoulder. "Dib-"

"What's going on?" he asked her, his voice shaking. He resembled a small puppy. Scared and helpless.

Gaz thought a moment. "I don't know." she answered honestly. "When I saw you.. You were standing in the hall, outside your door. I though maybe.. You may have been sleepwalking. I brought you in here and..." she looked back at the blood stained wall.

Dib followed the path of her eyes. Once his eyes were set on the wall, he lost it. "O-Oh my god." he cried, hugging onto himself. "I-I did this?"

Gaz didn't answer. She really didn't know.. This wasn't sleep walking. Of course that was obvious.

Dib winced at the numbing pain in his wrists that he just now began to feel.

Gaz, seeing this, quickly handed his the washcloth that she still held in her hand.

Dib took it from her, pressing it gently against the deep gashes. He sighed, wiping the tears from his face.

Gaz watched him, quietly. He needed help.


	5. You're insane, Dib

Gaz couldn't sleep. She couldn't get the image of Dib's blood splattered on a wall out of her head. It really worried her. Yeah, he was her brother. The one who she claimed she hated on a regular basis. That didn't mean that she didnt car for him just a _little_.

She thought back to that after noon. When he claimed to see something in that photo. Was is possible that the two inccidents were connected?

She sighed, rolling over on her side, the blakets rustling and the matress creaking as she did so. She peared her head over her shoulder, glaring at the clock.

4:51

She rolled her eyes, sitting up in her bed. She knew she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

She thought a moment. It was been a few hours since that little "inccident". Maybe she'd better check up on him. She nodded, confirming herself.

Gaz threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, streching. As she walked out into the hallway, she felt a sort of uneasyness. The same feeling that she felt a few hours earlier. She hopped that it didn't mean anything.

She aproched Dib's room slowly. Once she was close enough, she pushed the door open, gently. Dib was lying in bed, facing the doorway. His eye's were open, but he didnt seem to be aware she was there.

She knocked on the wall next to the door, requesting permission to come in.

Dib blinked and looked over to the door where she was standing.

"You okay?" She asked him.

Dib was silent several seconds before answering. "I-I don't know."

Gaz sighed, entering and sitting down at the edge of his bed. She looked over at him. "So... you don't remeber what happened earlier."

He shook his head. "No."

"...What's the last thing you remember."

He didn't hesitate answering. "I remember getting sick and deciding to go to bed early. That's it."

She thought a moment. She couldn't imagene waking up like that, with blood all over you, cutting yourself with a razor, not remembering how you got there. "I'm sorry."

Dib looked up at her. "What?"

"I'm sorry. It's gotta suck to go through that."

Dib didn't know what to say. She's never said the word 'sorry' to him before. Even if she never did anything wrong, it being simpathetic.

"Yeah. It does.."

Gaz was silent, starring down at the floor.

Dib wondered or not if he should tell her what was going on. He hoped after what had happened earlier, she wouldn't make fun of him and call him crazy like she normally would. Right now, she didn't relly know what to think. She knew something was wrong. She just didn't know what.

He decided to. It's not like things can get worse. "Gaz."

She looked up from the floor, over to him. "Mm?"

"I know what's going on." He lied. He didn't know. It was just the only thing that made since.

She opened one eye. "What?" she asked, a little suprised.

"I know what's happening to me."

She was silent, listening.

"You're probably not going to believe this-"

"Spit it out, Dib."

"Ok, ok... I think.. I think that... there's someone following me." he spoke, trying to make this sound as real as he could.

Gaz rose an eyebrow, confused. "What?"

"Yes. I think there's someone... Or _something_.. following me. And I don't know what he.. _it_ .. wants."

She looked at him, silent several seconds before speaking. she seemed to be proccessing this. "Someone's... following you." she spoke softly, repeating what he had said. "How does that explain-"

"No, no, you don't understand. He's called the "Slender man". He stalks people who've been through some tragedy in their life. He'll stalk them, causing them to have something called 'Slender Sickness'. I think that's why I've been-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Gaz stopped him. "Ok. Let me get this streight. You think some guy is following you because of some tragedy that he knows about, God knows how, and you're getting sick and cutting yourself because of this guy?"

"I knew you wouldn't take me seriously."

"Well, how can you expect me too? That's ridiculous!"

"Well, let me ask you something "sis", Do you have a better idea?!"

This irritated her. "Yes, I do. You're insane!"

Dib looked hurt by this. "No, I'm not."

"You are! You're Crazy! This guy you're talking about. How could he be the cause of you getting sick? It's probably just a stupid cold from you spending to much time out in the rain. And you cutting yourself, the only way the two are conected is you probably obsess over the guy too much and tried to 'soothe the pain' with a stupid razor!"

Dib furrowed his brow, still listening to her go on.

"I can't beleive I kept myself up all night actually felling sorry for you."

Dib clinched his fist, trying to hold back the anger that he felt. "Get out." he told her, keeping his voice steady.

Gaz stood to her feet. "Make me."

Dib stood up aswell. "I'm warning you. GET. OUT."

Gaz stood her ground. "Or what?" she mocked.

All these years. Gaz teasing him, mocking him, calling his stupid, crazy, liar. All of it built up. With that last comment, it exploded in his face. "GET OUT!" he screamed, pulling back his fist and throwing a well-aimed punch across her face.

She gasped slightly as she was knocked back, onto the floor. She stared at him, eyes wide. He'd never laid a hand on her before, let alone hit her. She slowly placed a hand on her jaw, where he'd hit her. She was froozen, shocked.

Dib then thought about what he'd just done. "Oh my god." He looked down at his little sister, lying there on the floor. "Gaz, I'm so s-"

It didn't take Gaz long to recover from her shoke and be back on her feet again. He was cut off as Gaz tackled him to the floor. Dib tinced up, suprised. Gaz angrily pounded blow by blow into his face. Dib feeling sorry for her quickly changed back to him hating her guts. He quickly shoved her back, sending her backwards, slamming her head againsts his desk. She gasped, gripping the back of her head. Dib didn't miss the opertunity to get her back.

He got ontop of her, puncing her again. She wasn't fighting back anymore. She was _scared_ of him. She tried desperatly to block his punches, to no avail. Dib, blinded with anger, blew a hard punch at her nose. Gaz let out a cry of pain as his fist colided with the fragile bone, breaking it. His knuckles bloodied from the blood running out of her nose, he continued to hit her. He didn't think in a million years that he was taking it to far... That is until he saw her cry.

She was silent. But the tears were visible. She tried her best to hold them back until the pain became to much. Tears began to flow from her eyes as she took small, sobbing breaths. Dib stopped imedeatly. He couldn't move. As he snapped out of it, he felt Gaz shove him off of her. Gaz quickly push herself up, againts the wall. Dib watched her as she quickly got to her feet and ran out of the room. He flinched as he heard her door slam, hard, after she had entered her room.

Dib just sat there, on the floor, covered in his sisters blood.

xXx

The next morning was silent. The two siblings sat silently eating their breakfast, Gaz keeping a close eye on him. Dib noticed that her nose was turnt a blue-ish purple and was slightly crooked. He remember _he_ had down that.

Dib sighed, staring down at the table. "I'm sorry."

Gaz ignored him, wincing as she chewed her food.

"I-I shouldn't have took it that far." he continued. He looked up at Gaz who was looking back now.

"I'm sorry I hit you. I'm sorry I broke your nose."

Gaz sighed, the first thing she'd done all morning. "...and I'm sorry."

Dib was suprised. "What?"

She made an irritated expression. "You heard me. I'm sorry."

Dib hesitated a moment. "For what?"

"You know for what." she said, annoyance in her voice. "For yelling at you. I started it."

He shook his head. "That doesn't mean It was OK for me to do what I did."

"I never said I forgave you." she said, smiling slightly.

Dib smiled as well. "So... we're ok?"

He was kind of suprised at the answer he recieved. "Yeah..."


	6. I believe you

Dib sat at his desk silently. Not even the cackling of a certain alien could distract him. He couldn't help thinking about the strange man he continued to see. And last night.. He could barely remember it. He _did_ remember the toll that Gaz had taken from him though. He couldn't believe that he could take it that far, let alone do it at all. Sure Gaz may have started it but he should have known. This was Gaz, the one who had tortured him most of his life. Why would one little insult change anything? It was who she was.

Zim eyed him curiously, noticing a bit of discomfort from him. Since class hadn't started yet, he rose from his chair, and walked over to him.

"What's wrong with you, DIb-worm?" he asked, rather obnoxiously. "You haven't been acting like your normal annoying self."

Dib didn't hear him. He was still in his thoughts, dazed, unable to move.

"Hello?" Zim waved a hand infront of his face. "Zim will not be ignored, especially by you."

Dib still remained silent. He still didn't notice the alien. He couldn't barely noticed the room around him. He couldn't seem to grasp himself. Everything around him just seemed to be muffled and hazy. He could feel himself drifing deeper and deeper into the dream that he had yet to finish.

Zim poked him in the cheak. "Zim is speaking to you, human." .He looked into Dib's eyes. He noticed that they were zoned out. The same thing that Gaz had noticed about his before what happened the night before.

"Dib-human?"

_Dib was alone, in a white room. He was no longer in the forest with that thing, thankfully. There was nothing in the room except for a small window. No door, no furniture. Just a window. He slowly stood to his feet as he slowly began to walk towards the little square window. _

_He felt cold. So very cold.. but there was nothing in the room to warm him he didn't even have his jacket with him. Just a white shirt and black pants. He wore socks, but his shoes were no where to be seen in the room._

_He stood on his toes to look out of the window. Outside, there was nothing but fog. Beyond the fog was darkness. All the more, making him feel safer in his little room. As he stared past the glass, he saw something moving. It was long and slender. His heart began to pound once he realized what the figure beyond the glass was. _

_He quickly backed away, tripping and landing backwards onto the padded floor. He pushed himself backwards, up against the wall. He wrapped his arms around himself when two tentacles appeared in front of the glass. His breathing picked up and he screamed and the glass shatter and the slender figure stretched itself into the room._

_He screamed louder as it came closer to him. He tried desperately to get away, however, there was nowhere to go. He flailed his arms frantically as the long appendages on his back began to wrap around him..._

Dib screamed, pulling back his hand and slapping Zim hard, knocking him to the floor, his outburst startling the class. Dib stood from his seat punching and kicking at the air. Zim watched him nervously. It was as he was watching him, he realized that that slap wasn't being aimed at _him. _He saw how Dib was struggling. He also saw that his eye's were closed. Was he sleeping? he thought.

Dib's screams became frantic as he fell back against the floor, arms close to his chest. It looked as if he was trying to push somthing off of him. Zim watched as several students crowded around him. Some of them were laughing, this angering Zim. He knew something was wrong with him. He could see it in his eye's ever since his last visit to his house.

_The slender tentacles than began to wrap around his neck..._

Dib gasped aloud as his hands reached up to his neck.

_They tightened as Dib clawed at them to get them off of him..._

Zim's eye's widened slightly as he saw Dib begin to claw and scratch as his neck, making him bleed. The laugher from the students around him had stopped at this point. Most of them backed away, scared now.

Zim stood to his feet. If he didn't stop him, no one else would. If Dib kept this up, he thought, he'd end up killing himself. He was about to step in when The principal had suddenly stepped into the room.

"What's going on in here?!" he shouted. He saw the multiple students surounding the sounds of a struggled. This, naturaly, made him suspect a fight. He quickly pushed through the students, wishing to stop the "fight"

"Stop it right-"

He stopped immedeatly when he saw Dib sobbing and rolling on the ground. He quickly got down on a knee, grabbing Dib by the shoulder's firmly. This, however, didn't effect Dib in the least. He just continued to struggled, pushing as the man as he were trying to kill him.. which, that no one knew, was technically the case.

The principal shook him. "What is is, son?" he asked him, a stern look on his face. With no answer from Dib, he decided to get the nurse involved..

.

xXx

Gaz was scribbling on a peice of notebook paper when she suddenly heard a voice over the intercome.

"Gaz Membrane, please report the the nurses office immedeatly."

She sat down her pencil, alarmed by this. She heard the sounds of a struggle in the background. She didn't take her time leaving the classroom. Either she was in serious trouble because of something, God knows what, or there was something else seriously wrong.

As she arrived in the office, Dib was sitting upright, knees against his chest, on a table. He was trembling and she could see dry blood that stained his chin. Dib suddenly froze when Gaz entered the room.

He didn't hesitate standing to his feet, quickly walking over to her, and imbracing her in a tight hug. Normally, Gaz wouldn't except any physical contact in any way, shape, or form. But instead of pushing him away, she hugged him back. Dib sobbed softly into her shoulder.

Not knowing what else to say, she said nothing but, "It's okay."

He shook his head, hugging tighter. "H-He was going to kill m-me."

She sighed. "Who?" she asked in a monotone voice. She knew the answer that she was going to recieve.

"Slenderman." he answered without hesitation.

Gaz just stood there silently as her brother hugged onto her, crying softly into her shoulder.

"Please... believe me..." he spoke when she didn't respond.

Gaz was silent for several seconds, then sighed.. She couldn't just say that he was making this up anymore. "Ok, Dib... I believe you."

He stopped crying, still breathing shakily however. "Y-You do?"

She nodded slowly, hoping that this Slenderman guy was actually real and she wasn't just playing along. "Yeah."

He was relived, however, tears still flowly from his eyes. DIb slowly backed away and whiped his eyes with his sleeve.

The staff that were standing by, were still watching. The principal spoke, "Now that you're back, can you tell us what's going on?"

Dib was quiet. He couldn't tell them this. "No."

"No? Why not?"

"I can't tell you."

"And why is that?"

Gaz pushed in. "He said he doesn't want to tell you."

He shrugged. "We'd just like to know what's bothering-"

"I don't care! Just leave him alone!"

He held his hands infront of him, shrugging. "Alright, alright."

Gaz turned back to Dib, before leaving the room. She whispered, "No matter what they do, don't you tell them. It'll just make it worse. Do you understand?"

Dib nodded.

xXx

Dib saw on the couch, hands shaking slightly. Gaz watched him from the doorway, trying not to make her presence known. She really thought long and hard about what was going on. She scratched at the cast on her nose as she thought about the night before. Not about the fight, but the episode before hand.

She was questioning hard weather or not to tell their father. Even if she did, he wouldn't take them seriously. After all, "the paranormal was ridiculous and whatever was not explained by science couldn't possibly exist." He'd told him this more than necessary. Gaz sighed, sitting beside of him.

"What happened back there?" she spoke softly.

Dib didn't answer.

Gaz didn't say anything else. She didn't want to push him. It took several minutes, however, Dib finally shrugged.

"You said he tried to kill you," Gaz began. "... What did you see?"

Dib looked up from the floor and slowly moved his gaze to her. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

Dib shook his head. "No, you don't get it. Even if I told you, It wouldn't change anything. You wouldn't beleive me and I'd still be insane."

Gaz looked down, staring down at the floor. "Look. . . I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Dib." she said quietly. She was still uncomfortable saying the word 'sorry'. "...but I do now. Just tell me."

Dib was silent a long time. "Ok." he finally agreed.

Gaz looked back up when she heard this.

Dib started from the beginning. How he kept having those strange symptoms up to the crazy dreams he'd had. He explained that durring the episode earlier today, he was having another dream. Or at least that's what he thought. it was strange because he wasn't asleep. It just happened. And the things that he eperienced in the dream happened in real life.

Dib came to the realization. "I-If I hadn't woken up when I did," he continued. ". . . I think he would have killed me for _real_."

Gaz was silent, seeming to be processing this.

Seeing her not responding, he spoke again. "See? Crazy and untrue, right?"

Gaz shook her head. "I never said that.."

"You were thinking it, weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't... I..."

Dib sighed. "I know.. You probably don't know _what_ to think. It's not everyday that this sort of thing happens."

"_Never_ does this sort of thing happen."

He sighed. "Look... If you don't believe me, fine. I'll figure this out on my own."

"No, you're not." Gaz spoke again. "If you try and stop this by yourself, you'll end up hurting, or even killing, yourself. Yeah, I don't know if this is true or not, but you're not going to do this alone."

Dib couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Gaz."

She shrugged. It was very rare that sweet, sympathetic things like that would ever leave her lips. But she knew she was right. If DIb didn't find help, he'd get himself into some serious trouble. And siblings are supose to look out for eachother, not matter how annoying they are..

"So," she shrugged. "...How can I help?"

xXx


End file.
